


You're the reason

by milkshakesandmurders



Series: 15 years in the making [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, F/M, Heartache, Heavy Angst, Roommates, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 02:31:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11911344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkshakesandmurders/pseuds/milkshakesandmurders
Summary: Jughead was Betty's world.Betty adored Jughead. A lot. Probably more than she actually should have. And of course, Jughead had absolutely no idea. He was completely oblivious to Betty's feelings.





	You're the reason

**Author's Note:**

> I'm obsessed with angsty heartbreak fanfics at the moment.  
> So if you prefer lovey-dovey fluff - this is definitely not for you.  
> Just a one shot.
> 
> Comments always welcome! xx

Betty and Jughead had been roommates for coming up to three years. They'd been best friends for almost 10 years. Betty, Archie, Veronica and Jughead had been friends for 15 years. But in the last 10 years, it was just Betty and Jughead.  
Veronica and Archie had gotten married, had a couple of gorgeous kids and were focusing on their business. They hadn't intentionally stopped talking to the two best friends, but life happened.  
Betty missed Veronica & Archie. Jughead had also kissed the married couple; Archie probably a little more.  
But they understood. Accepted. There were a couple of calls a year, but nothing to cement their ongoing friendship.

Jughead was Betty's world.  
Betty adored Jughead. A lot. Probably more than she actually should have. And of course, Jughead had absolutely no idea. He was completely oblivious to Betty's feelings. Betty didn't make it too obvious though either. Betty had had a couple of boyfriends, nothing too serious- probably because of her feelings for Jughead. The boyfriends often picked up on that, but it was never actually spoken about.  
Jughead, on the other hand, had lots of girlfriends. The latest one was lovely enough. Betty tolerated her. She wouldn't go out of her way to hang out with her. But, Sabrina would be in the kitchen after spending the night, so small talk would ensure.

"Good morning Betty!" Sabrina would happily greet her. Betty would happily greet anyone too if she was lucky enough to spend the night with Jughead too.

"Hi Sabrina. How are you?" Betty politely replied.

"I'm great! It's such a gorgeous day out... could I interest you in some hot coffee?"

"Ah yeah, that'd be great thanks." Betty wanted to like her. Jughead liked her. And Betty wanted to be a supportive friend, a supportive housemate.  
But Betty loved Jughead.

Jugheads bedroom door opened and he emerged. Shirtless. That was one of Betty's favourite events in the day. Shirtless Jughead.

Jughead nodded at Betty whilst putting his shirt on. He wasn't stupid. He knew Betty liked him shirtless. He often played on it.

He swanned over to Sabrina and embraced her around the waist, nuzzled in her neck and whispered something that illicited an unnatural sound from her mouth. She giggled. And Jughead nipped at her ear.  
"I'll have a coffee, please babe. If you're making..."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "No Jughead. No coffee for you!" She slapped his arm playfully.

That was it. If Betty could've huffed she would have. But nope: she couldn't.  
"I'm grabbing a shower." She muttered. Totally aware that they were in their own world.

So, she grabbed her coffee and walked to the bathroom. Her chest was pounding. Her stomach was heavy. She had to tell him. She risked throwing away 15 years of friendship. 10 years of having the best friend ever. But her feelings were getting ridiculous. The sheer jealously she was feeling was unhealthy.

As she stood under the hot running water. There were so many times she wished the hot water would wash away her feelings. But that's now how love works. As she did her shower routine; washing hair, conditioning hair, washing herself, shaving her armpits - she was thinking of the ways she could tell him.

_Cook him his favourite meal. Organise his favourite dessert. Let him choose his favourite movie. Settle on the couch. Have a few drinks. Followed by a causal "Jughead. I have something to tell you. For the past five years, I've been in love with you. Like, heart pounding, butterflies in stomach love. I can't think about being with anyone else but you."_

Or,

_Start secretly organising somewhere else to live. When he visits JB for his three monthly weekend trip - packing up her possessions, leaving him a note; "Jughead, I love you. Always have. Always will."_

There were many ways. She had no idea.  
But what she did know was that, she had to tell him.  
In some way, shape or form.

The water started running cold. It was then Betty realized how long she had actually been in the shower for. Taps turned, towels were grabbed. First was the drying of her hair, followed by the body dry.

She wrapped herself in the towel and made her way to her bedroom. She could still hear them giggling in the kitchen. The pit in her stomach grew bigger. It would probably be safe to assume it had been in the last six months Betty's feelings had intensified. She's not sure why. It's not like anything had happened six months ago to make said feelings intensify, but they had. And she couldn't deny them anymore.

_******************** _

It was about one month later.  
Shockingly, Sabrina wasn't in the picture anymore.

Betty started

the casual conversation over dinner with Jughead.

"Sabrina hadn't been around in a few days. Is everything okay with you two?" Betty asked as she ate her roast potato.

"Ah yeah. Not really. We called it quits. Something kind of just clicked and we realized whatever we had was just a sexual thing, and we're both looking for something serious, I guess." Jughead said as he sipped his beer.

Betty almost choked on her water, but couldn't help but slightly grin. Which Jughead did notice.  
He raised an eyebrow.  
"Why are you smiling?"

Betty looked up. Not knowing he was watching her.  
"What? What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? I'm not totally oblivious, Betty. Why are you smiling?"

Betty didn't know what to say. It's not often Betty was speechless. She's a writer: she knows how to use words, how to form sentences. But Jughead had caught her totally off guard. And she had no answers.

Jughead was waiting. "Hrmmm?"

Her breathing had increased, significantly. She picked up her empty plate and glass of water, and took it to the kitchen. Feeling Jughead's eyes watching her every move.  
Betty walked to her room. Ignoring his question.

Jughead was not one to let things go so easily.  
"Um, Betty...." he left his empty dishes on the table and knocked on Betty's door.

No answer.

He knocked again. This time he could hear sobs.

Betty was crying. This whole thing had seemed innocent. Dinner was fine. Until Betty had asked about Sabrina.

He opened the door to see Betty sitting on her bed, crying.

"Betty... what's going on?" He asked quietly as he walked up to her bed.

"Just leave me alone, please, Juggie. Go play video games or go see Archie. Whatever. Just leave me alone." Betty sobbed as she wiped her eyes.

"You know I can't do that." Jughead reached for the box of tissues on Betty's bedside table, and rubbed her eyes. "Tell me what's happening? We're best friends Betty... we should be able to tell each other everything... is this something to do with Sab..."

Before he had a chance to finish, Betty exploded.

"Oh my god, Jughead. Are you actually fucking serious right now?! IS THIS SOMETHING TO DO WITH SABRINA? Of course it does. It has to do with all of your stupid girlfriends!" Betty was cracking.

All Jughead could do was just sit there.  
He had no idea what was happening. He was afraid that if he said anything, she would do something crazy.

"You seriously have no fucking idea do you? Like, no actual idea... for someone who claims to be oh so smart. You are the stupidest person I've ever met!" Betty by this stage was half screaming, yelling and crying all at the same time.

Still, Jughead just sat on Betty's bed.  
He started to figure out what was about to happen. And he was not the least prepared for it.

"Say something, Jughead." Betty looked at him with pleading eyes. "Anything..."

"I don't know what's going on..."

"Of course you don't..." Betty sighed, she ran her fingers through her hair. This is definitely not how she pictured this unraveling. A note would've been easier. "....Jughead, I'm in love with you. Head over heels in god damn love with you." And it all just came out. Like the domino effect. "Years. Jughead, for five years. The last three years though... did you ever notice any men in this tiny ass apartment? Apart from you and Archie?"

Betty stared at him. Waiting for an answer.  
He looked shocked. "Well...?? Did you?"

All Jughead could muster was a head shake.

"And do you wanna know why? YOU. Jughead. You're the reason."

After what felt like forever, Jughead finally spoke..

"Betty... I didn't know..."

Betty was looking out her bedroom window.

"I didn't know... if I had known.."

"What, Jughead? If you had known... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHAT?!"

"Fuck, I don't know Betty! I don't fucking know!"

Betty just stared at him. This is how it all ends. She could feel it. Deep in her breaking heart. She knows he didn't feel the same way.

"You should go. Please."

Jughead nodded, left Betty's room and closed the door behind him.

Betty had no idea what was going to happen. At best, they would ignore each other for a while. One of them would drown themselves in work commitments. She doesn't know.

But what she did know was that the friendship between herself and Jughead would forever be broken, shattered into a million little pieces. Likely to never be repaired.


End file.
